RAF Seething
Encyclopedia
- For the civil use of this facility, see Seething AirfieldSeething AirfieldSeething Airfield , formerly RAF Seething, is located south southeast of Norwich, East Anglia, England.Seething Airfield is a privately owned airfield in Norfolk, England and is home to the Waveney Flying Group. Situated near the village of Seething, south east of Norwich and just a few miles...
RAF Seething is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located 9 miles SE of Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
.
Overview
Seething airfield was built in 1942-43 by John Laing & Son Ltd., to the standard Class A requirement for heavy bombers, the airfield had a main runway 6,000 ft. long aligned SW-NE and two secondary runways of 4,200 ft in length. The encircling perimeter track was three miles long. To meet USAAF requirements, there were fifty-one hardstands both of the loop and frying-pan type and two T-2 hangars, placed one on each side of the airfield, that on the south being adjacent to the technical site. The camp was of temporary buildings and the sites dispersed in farmlands to the south of the airfield448th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
The airfield was opened on 1 December 1943 and was used by the United States Army Air Force Eighth Air ForceEighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
448th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 448th arrived from Sioux City AAF
Sioux Gateway Airport
-History:The construction of Sioux City Army Air Base began in March 1942, about three months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Opened on 5 July 1942, it became a major training center during World War II for crew members of B-24 Liberators and B-17 Flying Fortresses...
Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
and was assigned to the 20th Combat Bombardment Wing. The group tail code was a "Circle-I". It's operational squadrons were:
- 712th Bombardment Squadron (CT)
- 713th Bombardment Squadron (IG)
- 714th Bombardment Squadron714th Bombardment SquadronThe 714th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 448th Bombardment Group, stationed at Long Beach Army Air Field, California. It was inactivated on 21 March 1951.-History:...
(EI) - 715th Bombardment Squadron (IO)
The 448th flew B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
s as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign. The group enered combat on 22 December 1943, and until April 1945 served primarily as a strategic bombardment organization, hitting such targets as aircraft factories in Gotha
Gotha (town)
Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...
, ball-bearing plants in Berlin, an airfield at Hanau
Hanau
Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction.- Geography :...
, U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
facilities at Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, synthetic oil refineries at Politz
Politz
Politz are German names of the places in Czechia: , a town in North Bohemia; now a district of Děčín , a city in north BohemiaOther:*Politz Day School, a private Jewish school in Cherry Hill, New Jersey- See also :* Police* Pollitz...
, aircraft engine plants at Rostock
Rostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
, marshalling yards at Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, and a Buzz-bomb assembly plant at Fallersleben
Fallersleben
Fallersleben is a district in the City of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population of 11,269 . The village of Fallersleben was first mentioned in 942 under the name of Valareslebo. Fallersleben became a city in 1929, and was incorporated into Wolfsburg in 1972. Before 1972, it belonged...
. The group took part in the intensive campaign of heavy bombers against the German aircraft industry during Big Week
Big Week
Between February 20–25, 1944, as part of the European strategic bombing campaign, the United States Strategic Air Forces launched Operation Argument, a series of missions against the Third Reich that became known as Big Week. The planners intended to lure the Luftwaffe into a decisive battle by...
, 20–25 February 1944.
In addition to strategic operations, flew interdictory and support missions. Bombed V-weapon sites, airfields, and transportation facilities prior to the Normandy invasion
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
in June 1944, and on D-Day attacked coastal defenses and choke points. Struck enemy positions to assist the Allied offensive at Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
and the breakthrough at Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô is a commune in north-western France, the capital of the Manche department in Normandy.-History:Originally called Briovère , the town is built on and around ramparts. Originally it was a Gaul fortified settlement...
in July. Dropped supplies to airborne troops near Nijmegen during the airborne attack on Holland in September. Bombed transportation and communications centers in the combat zone during the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
, December 1944 - January 1945. Dropped supplies to troops at Wesel
Wesel
Wesel is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.-Division of the town:Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighoven, Ginderich, Feldmark,Fusternberg, Büderich, Flüren and Blumenkamp.-History:...
during the airborne assault across the Rhine
Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...
in March 1945.
The group flew its last combat mission on 25 April, attacking a marshalling yard at Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
. It returned to Sioux Falls AAF
Sioux Falls Regional Airport
Sioux Falls Regional Airport , also known as Joe Foss Field, is a joint civil and military use airport located three nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Sioux Falls, a city in Minnehaha County, South Dakota, United States...
South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
the US in July 1945.
After the war, the field was closed in 1945.
Civil use
With the end of military control, most of the airfield was reverted to farming. The eastern section, including part of the main runway and a section of perimeter track, is now Seething AirfieldSeething Airfield
Seething Airfield , formerly RAF Seething, is located south southeast of Norwich, East Anglia, England.Seething Airfield is a privately owned airfield in Norfolk, England and is home to the Waveney Flying Group. Situated near the village of Seething, south east of Norwich and just a few miles...
which is home to the Waveney Flying Group
Seething Airfield
Seething Airfield , formerly RAF Seething, is located south southeast of Norwich, East Anglia, England.Seething Airfield is a privately owned airfield in Norfolk, England and is home to the Waveney Flying Group. Situated near the village of Seething, south east of Norwich and just a few miles...
. They have built three hangars and a clubroom and the airfield is active most days of the week.
To the south of the airfield, on some of the former dispersed barrack and communal sites, several of the old living quarters and associated buildings are still in existence. Some of these buildings are in a reasonable condition, although they are derelict and overgrown.
The former control tower has been renovated and has become a memorial museum to the 448th B.G. It contains a Group Roll Of Honor and various artifacts and memorabilia. It is open to the public on the first Sunday of the month May to October, but can be inspected at other times by special request.
In front of the control tower, dedicated during a veterans' reunion in 1990, stands a memorial to the men of the 448th B.G. who were missing or killed in action during service at Seething.
Two other memorials were dedicated during a veterans' reunion in 1984. One is on the airfield itself near the Waveney F.G. club-house and consists of an engraved stone plaque and rose garden; another similar plaque is in the churchyard of Seething Parish Church, which is a mile or so north of the airfield. The "Stars and Stripes" hang in the church itself while an oak sapling has been planted near the village hall to commemorate the Group's close association with the village.